Kevin Durant invests in Andreessen Horowitz fund to get people of color into tech

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Kevin Durant waits for instructions during the filming of a Warriors commercial during the Golden State Warriors media day at the Rakuten Performance Center in Oakland, Calif., on Friday, Sept. 22, 2017.(Laura A. Oda/Bay Area News Group)

Kevin Durant poses for a Warrior’s commercial shoot during the Golden State Warriors media day at the Rakuten Performance Center in Oakland, Calif., on Friday, Sept. 22, 2017.(Laura A. Oda/Bay Area News Group)

Golden State Warriors’ Kevin Durant (35) leaves the court hold the MVP trophy following their 108-85 win against the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 4 of the NBA Finals at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio, on Friday, June 8, 2018. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)

After completing a four-game sweep of the Cleveland Cavaliers to win the 2018 NBA Championship, Golden State Warriors’ Kevin Durant, Draymond Green and Stephen Curry exit their plane as they arrive back in Oakland, Calif., on Saturday, June 9, 2018.

Golden State Warriors’ Kevin Durant (35) controls the ball against Cleveland Cavaliers’ George Hill (3) in the first quarter of Game 4 of the NBA Finals at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio, on Friday, June 8, 2018. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)

Golden State Warriors’ Kevin Durant (35) answers questions from the media before a practice session the day before Game 4 of the NBA Finals at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio, on Thursday, June 7, 2018. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group)

Golden State Warriors’ Kevin Durant is interviewed during the team’s media day at their practice facility in Oakland, Calif., on Friday, Sept. 22, 2107. (Anda Chu/Bay Area News Group)

Kevin Durant of the Golden State Warriors greets members of the Vision basketball team at the Oakland International Airport on Wednesday, July 25, 2018, in Oakland, Calif. Durant surprised local athletes on their way to play in the BigFoot Hoops Las Vegas Classic during an event celebrating the launch of his latest signature shoe with Nike, the KD11. (Aric Crabb/Bay Area News Group)

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Golden State Warriors superstar Kevin Durant is teaming up with a major venture capital firm to help get more people of color into Silicon Valley technology companies.

Durant, movie star Will Smith and Essence magazine publisher Richelieu Dennis have invested in a $15 million fund launched by prominent Silicon Valley venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, according to the Wall Street Journal on Monday. The fund, named “Culture,” will be backed by other black celebrities and media figures to address the continued lack of diversity in the tech industry, despite years of efforts by companies to address the problem.

Andreessen Horowitz and the Golden State Warriors declined to comment on the fund. The Warriors also said Durant wasn’t immediately available for comment.

Other details — like how many partners have joined the fund — are not known as the fund is not yet closed, according to the Wall Street Journal.

It’s not Durant’s first foray into investing in technology companies. Since joining the Warriors in 2016, Durant has invested in at least six startups, including the food-delivery startup Postmates, according to Pitchbook.

The Culture fund will invest alongside Menlo Park-based Andreessen Horowitz’s main investing fund, according to the Journal. It will also “focus purposefully and intently on creating opportunities for people of color in tech,” according to Dennis, who spoke to the Journal.

Andreessen Horowitz will not collect the proceeds it normally gets from fees and carried interest. Instead, it will donate that money to nonprofits working to boost the number of blacks in Silicon Valley and other technology industries. Investors like Durant, however, will profit if the fund grows.

Silicon Valley and venture capital have seen little progress in the past with bringing more people of color into technology. Large companies like Facebook and Google showed little change in employee demographics in their latest diversity reports earlier this year.

In May, the Congressional Black Caucus visited Silicon Valley companies to press them to do more to diversify their teams; its co-chair Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., said some of the companies had “gone backwards” on diversity, according to The Verge.

With a white, male venture capital base, black entrepreneurs have received a fraction of funding to break through in the tech sector. Since 2009, black women-led startups have raised $289 million total in venture/angel funding — a tiny fraction of the $424.7 billion in total tech venture funding raised in the same period — according to a new study in June by digitalundivided, an Atlanta-based organization.

Seung covers Apple and personal technology for the Bay Area News Group. He was previously a technology reporter for Newsweek and a weekly columnist for the San Francisco Examiner. Seung grew up in Los Angeles and graduated from UC Berkeley.